When a large black monolith is found beneath the surface of the moon, the reaction immediately is that it was intentionally buried. When the point of origin is confirmed as Jupiter, an expedition is sent in hopes of finding the source. When Dr. David Bowman discovers faults in the expeditionary space craft's communications system, he discovers more than he ever wanted to know.

Commentary by Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood

Theatrical Trailer

Channel Four Documentary 2001: The Making of a Myth

Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001

Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001

2001: A Space Odyssey - A Look Behind the Future and What is Out There?

customer Reviews

5Kubrick's Finest Two and a Half Hours

I remember seeing this as a small child in the local cinema when it first came out and forty years later it's still as enigmatic as ever. Apparently when Kubrick was writing the screenplay he took out everything that was specific in Arthur C Clarke's source novel, resulting in the hugely ambiguous and ambitious film we have here.

Strangely, watching this in 1968 it seemed as if it might happen by 2001. However, in 2009 it seems an even more remote prospect than ever, which I suppose is a rather inverted way of the film showing its age. But even if the film is in one way dated, it's still an arresting spectacle and a fantastic tribute to all those involved in its production.

I think my favourite part is the "stargate" sequence although the edit from swirling bone to spacecraft is absolutely breathtaking as well. And that's not forgetting the androgynously-voiced HAL 9000 computer, which has one of the most potently understated lines in cinema history: "Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye."

5'The Ultimate Trip'

Awe-inspiring, audacious, confusing, compelling, disturbing, a visual tour de force and amazingly 40 years old. There is little more I can say about this movie as I would hate to try and suggest that I understand fully what is intended, but I do know that I find it impossible to look away from. In my humble opinion Hal_9000 is one of the most terrifying creations ever commited to screen. An absolute feast, fantasically realised, persistently influential and enduringly fascinating. A must see, don't miss out and I hope that this is finally the release that does this monument justice.

5Only one complaint: too short.

I believe there are two kinds of movies and two kinds of audiences. There are movies that you watch and then let it go the instance the credits starts to roll, and there´s an audience that really just wants to do that. And then there are movies that ask the audience to participate in the experience, to really think about what you´re watching and feeling, and yes, there is an audience that wants to do that. 2001 is aimed at the latter (just my opinion though). You can´t gain interest into something you´re just not interest in. So, if you´re NOT into adventure, mystery, questions that have no right nor wrong answers, amazing visual beauty, striking and unique filmmaking, then do not watch this masterpiece of the everfading art. The special effects of 2001 still outdoes pretty much every CGI creation nowadays in realism, and this was made in the sixties. Stanley Kubrick had something I wish every director could use, then, movie experiences would be as they should.

5"OPEN THE POD BAY DOORS HAL"

Kubrick at his best. No question, the most influential sci-fi film ever created, a dazzling masterpiece about where the human race stands in the world along side machines. It is important to note this film was actually made a year before man took its first step on the moon, but Kubrick's vision into the future is astounding, into colonised space, maybe too far for humans to treck into unknown territory. The film starts with one of the best jump cuts in film history and ends with the most bonkers mind-boggling ending ever conveived, this film is truely unmissbable. It's more than a film, it's an experience.

5One for the ages

Arguably Kubrick's most influential film, it's also one that perfectly summarises his style and technique. What makes this different from his earlier or later works is that it's his most complex and detailed work, as well as being paradoxically the most familiar and incomprehensible.Like all his films (adaptations) Kubrick chose nocels whose specific point was one only he could understand. He'd change things dramatically to suit his own story and his own ideas; think of 'The Shining' or 'Eyes Wide Shut'. This not only represents Kubrick's most obscure story to tell but also his single celebration of humanity as something positive, or at least suffering a less harsh outcome. There are many themes that will recurr within later projects: madness and isolation (The Shining); what it means to be human (Full Metal Jacket); the difference between reality and the imagined (Eyes Wide Shut); and how everything is presented in pristine, crisp visuals. But on its own '2001' stands out from Kubrick's unusual ouevre.The film encompasses all of mankind from its creation to its destruction and all over again. We see how mankind is both all-conquering and knowing, yet something beyond our own control can destroy us in an instant. Such fragility is evident in the 'Star Child', the embryonic innocence gazing at its new world come the end. This is a film that covers a vast territory, the known and the unknown. People talk to their families and friends; new discoveries yeild otherworldly consequences. Like Ingmar Bergman's 'Persona' Kubrick has not just examined and deconstructed an art form, but art itself, and thus humanity's fascination with concepts, creativity and imagination. It taps into a netherworld indescribable, familiar, personal. Images and sounds collide and fuse into a symphony in bright stark light. From volatile and primitive beginnings to a serene and beautiful conclusion, '2001' is about life and what it actually is.As ever, Kubrick never tells us what is and what isn't, but, like all his work, he gives us striking imagery to connect with an uncomfortably close part of the human aesthetic. There is some point in every Kubrick film where someone watching will realise just how clever, frighteningly so, he really is.A film that has to be seen to be believed, the reason that cinema exists, t see and discover new things and to take the soul along with us.

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